Dropped computer, need help with finding out what's wrong.

[Trash Man]

My brother moved house last Friday and during the move he dropped his computer

As you can probably guess it did not boot, after swapping out the main components with spare and my machine I worked out that his motherboard was knackered. He bought a new one, I installed it and w00t the comp now boots up again. Trouble is, it keep locking up.

I've tried a few things worked out that it runs fine with no lock ups when there is only 1 stick of memory in it. It does not matter which one of the 2gb sticks I put in, but as soon as I add the 2nd it will lock up.

Anyone know why it would do this?

Thanks for any help

[Pob255]

Have you manually set the memory up in the BIOS? speed&timings&voltage

Have you checked for compatibility issues?

causeing problems while every thing is still on stock settings?

[Trash Man]

I've not checked anything in the bios to do with the memory. What would I have to change/setup in there?

I've not changed anything, so I guess that would it would be safe to say the problem is there with stock settings.

Compatibility should not be a problem. I replaced the MB with the exact same model and revision.

[0iD]

I would check the voltage in the BIOS is set to the recommended voltage for your RAM. In an ideal world it should be fine, but I've had instances where the BIOS has set it far too low.

[LaxBlade]

1st thing that happens if you drop a laptop or desktop from waist height on hard floor (the Hard Drive) pays the price... that would explain the locking.... Nothing to do with the Bios NOT unless you were messin' in there which I dont think you had any call to...

Im not there "So I cannot diagnose".... its just a good guess... hard drive issues...

NOT Ram, if you unseat the ram, then reseat it.... its fine...

Again its impossible for ME, or anyone else, to help without you bringing it into a PC health check shop.... Anywhere apart from PC World, google for I.T repair shop next to you...

Good Luck.

[piggin23]

What motherboard do you have?
What memory are you using?
Always a good idea to go into the BIOS and set the memory timings & voltage manually.
Also depending on the motherboard, some like to use slots 1+3 others prefer 2+4.

[TAKTAK]

Run a HDD diagnostic on it

i.e. seatools if it is a seagate

HDDs can take a few G's but they're not meant to be dropped really
Also, whack the RAM in a different system and hit it with memtest

hit the dropped system with memtest too

[shaithis]

Firstly, I am trying to figure out just how the motherboard got damaged in the fall.......as someone else has pointed out, the only thing you expect to have issues from a small fall would be the HDD.

But now you have changed it and identified an issue when both sticks are inserted, I would manually set the RAM speed and voltage in BIOS.

You will need to post the make/model of the motherboard and the type of RAM though if you are unsure what to set them to.

[Sukh]

I would swap out the Hard disk as well, although you might be lucky if the arm was locked out.

[Trash Man]

Firstly, I am trying to figure out just how the motherboard got damaged in the fall.......as someone else has pointed out, the only thing you expect to have issues from a small fall would be the HDD.

It was dropped from waist hight on to the pavement, landing on a corner of the case. I never saw the computer being dropped but there is a fair bit of damage to the case and although there is no visible damage to the motherboard it is definitely faulty.

The first time I tried booting the computer it was giving the error code for display/GFX card problems. I tested his card in my computer and it worked fine, I then tried my GFX card in his computer and it would still not boot. What I did notice though that was when my card was in his computer that the 2 power fault lights on the GFX card came on, even though it was plugged up correctly.

I thought then that it may be a PSU issue, so I tried my PSU in his and still the same problem and the 2 error lights. So I'm guess that the MB has an issue with the PCI-E port. Shame there was only 1 on the MB, otherwise I could have swapped the GFX card to the 2nd slot.

I've now memtested the memory and everything is fine there and also all voltages are set correctly

I've swapped the HDD for another drive and all seems well at the moment. It's been running a couple of hours with no lock up. Not sure why it was only locking up with 1 memory stick in though.

Thanks for all the help guys